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Skinner is implicated in a
murder, being the last person with the victim and the chief
suspect. The situation is complicated when he finds the
woman he picked up in a bar is actually a prostitute and he
seems to want to keep Mulder and Scully out of the
investigation.
When Mulder finally tracks
down the conspirators, he is too late and stumbles in after
hearing gunshots. He finds the triggerman to be X himself.
"You're too late, Agent Mulder," he says. When Mulder asks
why X gave him clues only to kill the men, X says that he
was just following his orders but was hoping that Mulder
would get to them before he had to carry them out.
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This episode focused on Assistant Director Skinner and
indirectly impacted the conspiracy plotline. Skinner is
implicated in a murder, being the last person with the
victim and the chief suspect. The situation is complicated
when he finds the woman he picked up in a bar is actually a
prostitute and he seems to want to keep Mulder and Scully
out of the investigation. We see him dealing with his
pending divorce just before the bar scene as he refuses to
sign the divorce papers for another day, putting off the
seemingly inevitable. The strange thing is, we never really
knew that Skinner was married since a spouse was never shown
or mentioned though careful viewing of past episodes might
reveal a wedding band. Following his arrest, a formal
hearing is scheduled to determine whether he can retain his
position in the FBI under these circumstances. Mulder and
Scully are called to testify at the hearings and turn over
any evidence they have on Skinner and the case in
particular. Scully defends Skinner at the hearing while
Mulder is off looking for more tangible evidence. When
Scully relays the line of questioning and the implied
opinions of the committee, they both concur that the panel
is using this opportunity to dismiss Skinner in order to
weaken the X-Files division. They tried to have him killed
before, but since that didn't pan out, they will try a more
roundabout approach. In fact, the entire murder was a
set-up, from the hiring of the prostitute to the killing
itself, and we see the man orchestrating it all. He is known
in the credits as the Gray-Haired Man and the last time we
saw him was when Skinner was warned to cease and desist the
investigation into Melissa's murder.
Wetwired
This episode involved a conspiracy of experimental mind
control issued through scrambled television signals. The
interesting part is that during the investigation, Scully
falls under the control of the device becoming suspicious of
Mulder and paranoid in general. At one point, while viewing
taped news programs that are tainted, she leaves her motel
room for ice and thinks she sees Mulder having a clandestine
meeting with CSM in the parking lot. She begins to suspect
Mulder as being part of the entire conspiracy all along and
ditches him to run to the only person she trusts, her
mother. When Mulder tracks her down, she points a gun at his
head until her mother convinces her that he is not one of
the badguys. The case was brought to the attention of Mulder
in the first place by an associate of Mr. X's. When Mulder
finally tracks down the conspirators, he is too late and
stumbles in after hearing gunshots. He finds the triggerman
to be X himself. "You're too late, Agent Mulder," he says.
When Mulder asks why X gave him clues only to kill the men,
X says that he was just following his orders but was hoping
that Mulder would get to them before he had to carry them
out. As X turns his back to walk away, Mulder pulls his gun
on him, but X calmly says that he won't shoot. "The truth
is, you need me, Agent Mulder." The episode ends as X meets
with CSM in a car parked in a dark alley. This is the first
time we have ever seen these two together, though
speculation would lead one to believe they are associates of
some type. CSM asks X who Mulder's source is and X replies,
"That person remains unknown." CSM's look may suggest he
questions this answer, but he says nothing, instead puffing
his cigarette as he looks on.
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